Atlas Genius @ The Foundry

WRITTEN BY: Natalie Crane

Atlas Genius stopped at The Foundry with Half the Animal and MAGIC GIANT on Sunday, October 15^th.

The first band to take the stage was Los Angeles natives Half the Animal. This band gives off a Maroon 5-meets-indie-pop sound and were more than excited to be on tour. They gushed over announcing their song “Babylon” just hit 1 million streams on Spotify. Their song “If You Want My Love” shows off their funkier side while “Bad Bad Love” is more of a pop anthem. Half the Animal also surprised the audience with a dope cover of Childish Gambino’s “Redbone.”

The second band to perform was another LA-based band, MAGIC GIANT. This band might have whipped out the most instruments during any live performance I’ve ever seen. In addition to the customary guitar and drum set, MAGIC GIANT’s set included a banjo, violin, harmonica, a marching bass drum, and a classical cello. Not only did the set include these instruments but the band also shredded on each, which a special emphasis the violin. They have a distinct, indie-pop meets indie-folk sound, which was electrifying to see live.

The band shared a story about playing a new song at a festival a while back. The song hadn’t been named yet but when someone in the audience approached the band after their performance, the song found its name. A fan told them during the performance of this new song, she felt the presence of a friend she lost at a young age, and thus the song was named after her. With this story, the crowd was filled with goose bumps and they began to play “Jade.”

The three band members then ventured out into the middle of the audience to play a soft, acoustic song. Lead singer Austin Binsow advised the audience, “Please don’t give us any space.” Their energy never faltered and Binsow gushed over the audience saying performing for such a lively audience was, “Almost like vitamin C.” MAGIC GIANT has officially topped my list of most exciting and engaging openers I’ve ever seen live.

Atlas Genius began their long awaited set with “The City We Grow” followed by one of my favorites, “Stockholm.” After debuting a new song titled “Animals,” Atlas Genius surprised the audience by playing “Trojans” rather early in their set. Fans went nuts over the song as everyone screamed and danced along. Another throw back they played was “Backseat” with an extended instrumental break that had the whole audience in a groove. “Symptoms” also jams really hard live as well as “If So,” the song they ended their set with.

After fervent cheers from the audience, Atlas Genius returned to the stage for their encore, beginning with a dope cover of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).” Next they played “The Stone Mill” and closed the show with “Molecules.”

Set List:

1. The City We Grow
2. Stockholm
3. Animals
4. All These Girls
5. Where I Belong
6. Trojans
7. 63 Days
8. Back Seat
9. Symptoms
10. Operate
11. When It Was Now
12. If So

Encore:

1. You Spin Me Round
2. The Stone Mill
3. Molecules